Colossians 3:18 Meaning Explained

Colossians 3:18

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The phrase "as is fitting in the Lord" isn't just a polite suggestion; it's the crucial qualifier. It means this submission is rooted in Christ and the relationship believers have with Him, shaping how this role should be lived out within the Christian community, rather than an absolute demand divorced from love and God's design.

What Colossians 3:18 means

Paul is shifting from general commands about Christian living to specific instructions for relationships within the household. This section outlines duties for wives, husbands, children, parents, slaves, and masters, emphasizing how Christian faith should shape these roles. These practical directives follow the theological foundation laid earlier in the letter about Christ's authority and the believer's new life.

Submission Rooted in Christian Love

The Bible talks a lot about submission, but what does it really mean in marriage? It's not about blindly obeying, but about a specific kind of Christian love and order.

Colossians 3:18 calls wives to 'submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.' This isn't a one-sided command for wives to be doormats.

A Mutually Ordered Love

This instruction is part of a larger section on household relationships (Colossians 3:18-4:1), which also addresses husbands, children, parents, slaves, and masters. The emphasis is on Christian principles guiding every relationship.

The phrase 'as is fitting in the Lord' is key. It means this submission is not arbitrary but is rooted in God's design for marriage and the Christian life. It's about order and mutual respect within a Christ-centered framework. Husbands, too, are called to love their wives, reflecting Christ's love for the church (as expanded in Ephesians 5:25-33). This love is the context for the wife's submission.

Beyond Blind Obedience

Submission here implies a willing yielding and support within the marriage, acknowledging the husband's role as leader, much like Christ leads the church. However, this is balanced by the husband's responsibility to love sacrificially. It's a partnership where each role is honored within God's plan.

The 'Fitting' Nature of Christian Order

Why does the Bible use the word 'fitting' when talking about submission? It points to an underlying principle that makes these relationships work in God's economy.

The Greek word translated 'fitting' (anēken) in Colossians 3:18 carries a sense of what is appropriate, proper, or becoming within a specific context. It suggests an inherent rightness based on one's relationship with the Lord.

A Divine Design

This isn't just a social convention; it's presented as aligning with Christian life and the order God has established. It was what was appropriate for believers entering into the Christian life and their specific roles within marriage.

Understand the original words

Original language

submitὑποτάσσεσθε

hypotassesthe · Greek Verb

The act of voluntarily placing oneself under the authority or leadership of another, modeled after the church's relationship to Christ and reflecting divine order.

Historical context

Written: Likely in the early 60s AD.
Author: Traditionally understood as the Apostle Paul, though some scholars debate its Pauline authorship.
Location: Written from prison, likely Rome.
Genre: Epistle (letter) with a focus on practical Christian living, featuring household codes.

Historical background

c. 50-60 AD— this verse
Paul Writes to the Colossian Church
The Apostle Paul, likely imprisoned in Rome, writes this letter to the church in Colossae, a city in Asia Minor. The letter addresses issues of false teaching and encourages believers to live a life worthy of Christ.
c. 50-60 AD
Parallel Teachings in Ephesians
Around the same time, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, including similar instructions for household relationships. This suggests a consistent approach to integrating Christian ethics into family and social structures within the early church.
c. 60-64 AD
Peter's First Epistle
The Apostle Peter also addresses household duties in his first letter, including instructions to wives and husbands. This shows the widespread dissemination of these teachings throughout the early Christian communities.

Key themes

01Christian household order
02Divine calling in marriage
03Wifely submission's foundation

Cross-references

Ephesians 5:22

This passage is the most direct parallel, echoing the instruction for wives to submit to their husbands and further elaborating on the 'why' by comparing it to Christ's relationship with the church.

1 Peter 3:1

Peter also addresses wives, urging them to be subject to their own husbands, framing it as a way to win over unbelieving husbands through their conduct.

Genesis 3:16

This foundational passage in Genesis describes the consequence of the Fall as a disruption in marital relations, including a struggle for dominance, which Paul's instruction seeks to reorder within a redemptive framework.

1 Corinthians 11:3

Paul establishes a general principle of headship in Christ, stating that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God, providing a theological basis for the submission described in Colossians.

Scholarly commentary

Colossians 3:18-25: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord."

3:18-25 The epistles most taken up in displaying the glory of the Divine grace, and magnifying the Lord Jesus, are the most particular in pressing the duties of the Christian life. We must never separate the privileges and duties of the gospel. Submission is the duty of wives. But it is submission, not to a severe lord or stern tyrant, but to her own husband, who is engaged to affectionate duty. And…
henry

Colossians 3:18: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord."

Colossians 3:18 to Colossians 4:1 .[164] Instructions for the different portions of the household . Why Paul should have given to the churches such a table of household rules only in this Epistle and in that to the Ephesians (comp. also 1 Tim. and Tit.), must be left wholly undecided (Chrysostom exhausts himself in conjectures). They are not polemical; but possibly, in the presence of a theosophico-asc…
meyer

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What Colossians 3:18 means

Historical background

c. 50-60 AD— this verse

Paul Writes to the Colossian Church

The Apostle Paul, likely imprisoned in Rome, writes this letter to the church in Colossae, a city in Asia Minor. The letter addresses issues of false teaching and encourages believers to live a life worthy of Christ.

c. 50-60 AD

Parallel Teachings in Ephesians

Around the same time, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, including similar instructions for household relationships. This suggests a consistent approach to integrating Christian ethics into family and social structures within the early church.

c. 60-64 AD

Peter's First Epistle

The Apostle Peter also addresses household duties in his first letter, including instructions to wives and husbands. This shows the widespread dissemination of these teachings throughout the early Christian communities.